Rachel's Side:

One evening, Aaron brought a group of Air Force Academy friends home for a weekend ski trip. One had jokingly requested chicken tikka masala for dinner. That day, I experienced two firsts: cooking Indian cuisine and meeting the friend who suggested it. Christian Sherman was known by his buddies from basic training as “Sherm.” I went on many ski trips with Aaron and the guys and loved every second, but I had no romantic feelings for any of them. Two years passed.

One day, my mom showed me a picture from Facebook: Christian’s baptism on a Spring Canyon retreat. I grew curious. Christian’s faith had noticeably grown since that first ski trip. I had already made up my mind that I would only date a strong believer.

In February 2023, my parents and I served at an Academy event. After cleaning up, Christian and Aaron (among other friends) hung out and breathed in leftover balloon helium. We had a great time. For whatever reason, saying goodbye involved Christian shaking my hand for a solid ten seconds.

For the next ten days, I wondered if it meant anything. I also realized that, well…I hoped it did.

Concerned, I called Aaron. I needed him to tell me to quit thinking about Christian. I needed some cold, hard logic to combat my feelings. But all Aaron talked about was Christian being an amazing, trusted friend, and I cried.

A few weeks later, mental pressure peaked as I casually dried my hands on a kitchen towel. “Mom, Dad, I just want you to know. I like Sherm.” I strode off, tears about to boil over.

That understatement marked a period of unhealthy obsession for me. I spent the spring pinned between the fiercest emotions I had ever experienced and a rock-solid conviction from God that I should not initiate, and Christian did not ask me out.

As summer began, my childhood friend Andrea asked if I would be her accountability buddy for a summer Bible study. Worn-through and desperate for change, I agreed.

It was intense. I wish I had millions of pages to write what God did that summer. The ridiculously-summarized version: I encountered God.

The study forced me to sit through long periods of personal time with God every single day, and I felt terribly exposed. I knew it was obvious to Him that my mind wanted something other than Him. But I couldn’t honestly change what I wanted. So I cried into my sheets, “God, I know you want me to actually, really love you. But I don’t. Yet I should, and I want to want You. Please change me!”

He told me to let go, and that not only was God Himself enough to satisfy me, but He was who I had been yearning for this whole time. not Christian. And though I didn't know if Christian liked me or not, I saw that God already loved me, and He even wanted me more than I wanted Christian. Through the constant ache of each day, I surrendered and learned to embrace God fully. Even if Christian never asked me out, I realized that I would flourish because God held me close. Not to say that the pain went away, as both my feelings and conviction persisted, but God's confidence and happiness grew into a strong undercurrent in my mind.

Summer faded, and the night before leaving for Liberty University in Virginia, my family went to an event in Denver. I danced with Christian there, wondering if it was the last time I’d see him. I didn’t initiate, because I wanted to obey God out of love for Him...even though He seemed to be leading me away from the brightest walking "green flag" I had met.

At Liberty, I continued surrendering the pain and questions to God, and an amazing semester passed. Then December back at home did too.

As I woke up on January 8th, 2023, something felt different. I asked God about it, and He said to check on the conviction.

It was gone. I freaked out.

Frantically tearing past pages in my Bible, I checked for moral reasons why I should not initiate but found none. I asked my dad what he thought, and he suggested I write a letter.

Fingers trembling, I flew again through scripture, this time landing in the book of Ruth, where the correlation froze my hands on the thin paper pages. Ruth, after loosing her husband and moving with her mother-in-law Naomi, met Boaz. She saw his honorable character, worked wholeheartedly for God during a period of waiting, and then received wise advice from Naomi to initiate. She did, and God blessed her immensely for loving Him first. My situation felt like a modern retelling of Ruth.

I wrote the letter, brought it with me to Liberty, then sent it at the end of January. It revealed my feelings and then assured him that I would respect however he chose to respond. I slogged through each day waiting to hear back. Nerves and curiosity practically chewed clear through my insides as I hoped that the letter gave Christian space to pray...and hopefully respond.

Sherm's Side:

I was a freshmen in college excited to go on a ski trip with some of my best friends. We were staying at Aaron's house who was excited to introduce us to his family. We walked in and I smelled the aroma of my favorite dish, chicken tikka masala, being cooked. Little did I know that I took my first glimpse of my future wife standing at the stove cooking my favorite meal. Rachel turned away from the cooking to join the rest of the family inviting the new guests to their home. She was incredibly welcoming and kind. And I would soon figure out that she was an incredible cook along with her sister. To be honest, that should of sealed the deal right there. But it took me a lot (lot) longer to figure it out and the story is honestly quite beautiful.

Rachel and I would see each other pretty much every week when I came to Aaron's house for ski trips or summer adventures. And she was certainly every bit as beautiful then as she is now, but there was no spark until senior year. God had a lot of work to do in me before our love could ever be realized. And His timing is perfect.

The first thing Rachel wanted in a husband was a man who loves God. I cannot say that was me that first time we met. I didn't truly even know God until nearly a half year later. I was lucky to be close with a lot of men who challenged me as I challenged them. We would all help build each others world views up and I am lucky to say now that most of these men are believers in Jesus along with me. God had drawn me to Himself, and this is the biggest gift I have ever received in my life. His relentless pull on me is what would eventually bring me to my second biggest gift in my life: my relationship with Rachel.

God would help me battle for the betterment of myself. He would sanctify me and help me purge the sinful habits that ate at me every day. He wanted me to love Him. He wanted me to love Him more than the idea of loving another person. At the time, I struggled with God's ask (and even now it can be hard). This started a process that left me oblivious to the most beautiful human relationship I could imagine which was standing right in front of me the whole time.

I had spent lots of time with Rachel skiing, climbing, playing music, cooking, and even a designing sweater together. We were great together. In the little time that I got to be alone with her, we were never awkward and our conversation was amazing. But I could never describe the way I felt about her. You know, one time Aaron asked if I had feelings for her, and it took me a half hour to try and describe what I felt, so I won't try to write it down. But the truth was, I always had feelings for her. They were just different than I had ever experienced. They were beyond worldly things and God was trying help me understand. Since I didn't understand, they kind of freaked me out. I didn't want to get myself into it. So I pawned off the reasoning of my reaction to thinking it weird to have feelings for one of my best friends' sister.

Rachel started liking me during my Junior year. But I was completely oblivious to this because of my reaction to the misunderstanding of my feelings. The clues were getting larger and larger throughout the time that she liked me. Yet, I missed every single one. It wasn't until my last semester at USAFA when Aaron literally said that "He was 'pretty sure' she liked me" that I even thought she might like me. Nevertheless, I held my position.

During this time, God was really calling me towards Himself. I was trying to truly give myself to Him. I wanted to be able to truthfully say to Him that I would be willing to live a life alone if that is what He called me to. This was a hard thing for me to do. But I truly believe I got to a point where I prayed that to God and truly meant it at the beginning of my last semester at USAFA.

Within the next few weeks, I was going through my normal day of school. When lunch ended, I went down to the mailroom expecting nothing but maybe some junk mail. I opened my locker and was shocked to see a letter with beautiful teal handwriting that was addressed from Rachel Powers. I wanted to read it so bad right there, but I knew I had to make it to class, so I left it in my room and read it after class. I was jaw-droppingly shocked and impressed to read the most God-centered, open-handed love letter I could ever imagine. She was asking in faith whether I was interested in beginning a long-distance relationship.

I told God that I was willing to live a life alone if that is what He called me to. But this letter certainly made it seem like He was calling me somewhere else. I knew my answer as soon as I read it, even though I acted like I didn't. But I prayed on it and asked for prayer and counsel from others for a week before setting up a call with Rachel.